The use of a whisk in mixing ingredients often involves mixtures which stick to the loops of the whisk, which makes returning this portion of the mixture to the mixing bowl, and subsequently cleaning the whisk, difficult. After shaking the whisk over the bowl, a cook's only other option has been to try to wipe the wire loops between their fingers. In the end the whisk has been rinsed in the sink, a slow process resulting in the loss of ingredients down the drain. Since whisks have a cage like structure it is not possible to clean them effectively with cleaning implements which are applied from the outside of the whisk as the inner surfaces remain inaccessible.
Electric mixers and egg beaters have addressed this same problem with centrifugal cleaning. The mixer is run at high speed to shake off any stuck mixture. So called “self-cleaning beaters” are simply beaters that have no center posts so that the centrifugal cleaning can be more effective. This is essentially only a high speed version of shaking the whisk over the bowl.
While there have not been innovative solutions to cleaning the cooks whisks there have been a few innovations in the device itself. The 2005 Hughes U.S. patent application 20070084063 teaches a whisk that includes a protrusion from the handle which has the advantage of keeping the loops of the whisk up off the surface when the whisk is set down. This allows for a more sanitary kitchen as the loops of the whisk do not come into contact with counter tops. Similarly, the 2008 Lion U.S. patent application 20080043568 features a whisk having an additional clip to allow the whisk to be supported on the edge of the mixing bowl. The 2006 Settele U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,631 teaches a collar which can be placed on a conventional whisk which has the benefit, once it is drawn up away from the handle, of collapsing the loops of the whisk and thereby making the whisk more compact for storage. This collar has the added benefit of being applicable to a conventional whisk and does not require one to be manufactured specifically with the device.
While the problem of cleaning the complex structure of the whisk has not been addressed by the prior art, methods of cleaning other complex structures have been taught. Solutions to the problem of cleaning the many bristles of a comb has been taught in several patents including the 1946 Heyman U.S. Pat. No. 2,437,298 which teaches a simple fabric strip having a row of perforations coinciding with the bristles of a conventional flat comb. The fabric strip is pulled down to the base of the comb where it remains until it is time to clean the comb at which point it is pulled off taking the caught hair and debris with it. Similarly the 1977 Peilet U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,910 teaches a comb having a perforated plate which lifts up from the back of the comb, each perforation having a single bristle passing through it and including flexible wiping flaps to wipe the bristle clean as the plate is lifted.
An advantage of using flexible wiping flaps or blades, as in a squeegee, in cleaning an object is their ability to flexibly conform to the surface being cleaned. The 1933 Pelz U.S. Pat. No. 1,934,556 teaches a C shaped squeegee able to clean a trapezoidal box successfully on all sides, the squeegee blade edges flexibly conforming to the surfaces. The 1971 Fink U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,018 teaches a squeegee consisting of a slit in a rubbery sheet which will remove most debris from golf club head, the opposed edges of the slits acting as squeegees.
Scrapers, wipers and squeegees which are in opposed pairs have not been previously used in cleaning a whisk type structure but have been employed as an effective cleaning structure in many devices. The 1960 Hercer U.S. Pat. No. 2,941,224 is one of many spatula cleaners employing opposed wipers or scrapers. The 1990 Tremblay U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,859 teaches a wiper system consisting of opposed squeegees to clean a motor vehicle dipstick.
While the cleaning of a whisk type structure does not appear in any prior art, the references sited above demonstrate the efficacy of cleaning a complex structure with opposed squeegees disposed to follow the contours of the item to be cleaned.